


The Capture of Amphitrite

by watcherswatchers



Series: Daily Drabble Prompts [29]
Category: Buzzfeed Unsolved (Web Series), Watcher Entertainment RPF
Genre: Human!Shane, M/M, Mermaid!Ryan, Merman!Ryan, Prompt Fill, mermaid au, slight peril, word count: less than 1k
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-11
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-18 15:14:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 999
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29984781
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/watcherswatchers/pseuds/watcherswatchers
Summary: Daily Prompt:Write about Shane and Ryan in the water! Are they sea folk? Pirates? Lighthouse keepers? Olympic swimmers with hot bods?
Relationships: Ryan Bergara & Shane Madej, Ryan Bergara/Shane Madej
Series: Daily Drabble Prompts [29]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2160195
Comments: 6
Kudos: 27
Collections: Shyan Shipping Society Daily Prompts





	The Capture of Amphitrite

Ryan’s body slammed to the wooden deck of the ship. He’d been so stupid. He’d let himself be seen.

Ropes dug into his skin and peeled up the scales on his tail. Ryan writhed, trying to get out. He had to get back to the ocean. “Mama!” he cried. “Mama, help me!” His body was hoisted into the air, high above the crew mates’ heads.

They stared at him, half in disbelief while the other half jeered. Ryan was crying. It only seemed to egg on the insults, the abuse.

Ryan tried to move. His tail was pinned beneath himself, bent unnaturally. It hurt so bad. The ropes were tight. He was in a mesh bag, a prison for their own cruel amusement.

One man caught his glance. He was a head taller than most of the crew. He glanced sadly at Ryan. Ryan stared back at him, silently begging for his life. If anyone were going to help him, it seemed it would be him.

The net Ryan was in was dropped back to the deck. Ryan felt like he was being torn apart. Rough hands were on him, dragging him down the deck by his tail. His skin filled with splinters.

Ryan could hear his mama call for him from the ocean, her voice soft enough to avoid detection by the humans. But Ryan heard her all the same. Her voice screamed in his heart.

“Mama,” he sobbed. “Papa.”

Ryan was thrown in a small tub, not nearly large enough for him. His tail spilled out over the end and his torso was well above the water. He couldn’t move. He could probably shove himself out of the tub but short of that, what else could he do? There was no way he could drag himself up the steps and past the ship’s crew. Not without being detected.

Saltwater ran down his cheeks. He knew his interest in humans would end up like this some day. His mama and papa had warned him. His brother had warned him. And now, here he was— stuck in a tub.

The water in the tub was at least saltwater. Ryan was able to start healing his wounds— torn scales and scrapes, bruises that would likely show up within a day or so. He removed splinters from his chest and arms and sank into the water as much as he could. He was stuck. He was going to die here.

Ryan was asleep— the room was plenty dark under the main deck— when the door creaked open slowly. He jerked awake, immediately on alert. He didn’t have much in the way of weapons— just the sharp edge of scales that had been ripped from his tail. It wasn’t much, but in a pinch, they’d have to do.

The tall man walked in, stooping through the doorway. His hands were held up placatingly as he stepped in. He blocked the door closed, first with the small bolt lock, then with a barrel of… something. Ryan didn’t want to find out what.

“I’m not here to hurt you,” the man said softly. The room was suddenly set alight as the man lit a lamp in the corner and hung it up. “I’m Shane.”

Ryan shoved himself into the tub, cowering down. His scales wouldn’t be nearly enough to incapacitate this guy— he was a fucking giant.

“I’m going to get you out of here,” Shane whispered. “I promise.” His hand rested on the edge of the tub and Ryan stared at it. His body was tense.

Shane couldn’t help but notice the merman’s tail was duller than it had been earlier. Was it a trick of the mind, a trick of the light? Or was it truly duller? He reached out to touch it, nearly able to rub the scales, when he suddenly tugged his hand back to his chest.

“Sorry,” he murmured.

Ryan just stared at him wide-eyed.

“Do you— Can you understand me?” Shane asked. “We’re in international waters. I suppose I shouldn’t assume you can speak English.”

“I can,” Ryan whispered. He was still cowering in the tub, his tail most of the way out of the tub in order for his chin to dip beneath the water. It looked incredibly uncomfortable.

Shane sat on the floor beside the tub, his pants almost surely soaking up water. “What can I do to help you right now? I’ve— I’ve heard some of you can shape shift into man?”

Ryan nodded. “It’s incredibly painful. I’ve never tried.”

Shane hummed and looked down at Ryan’s tail. The fins drooped sadly and the skin there was pale. “Why— Your tail seems to be colored differently than it was up above. Is it?”

Ryan looked down at his tail. He shoved his torso back out of the water and curled his tail in protectively.

“I don’t mean to be rude,” Shane said. “I just— the colors aren’t nearly as brilliant now.” His fingers reached out to brush against the scales but he stopped himself yet again. “Sorry.”

The red scales brightened slightly, glittering even in the low light of the lamp, before simmering back into the dark color they had been.

“Wow,” Shane whispered in awe. “Gorgeous.”

The scales flared again at the compliment and Ryan’s cheeks flushed along with it. _Stupid fish_ , he chastised himself. He looked at the man carefully folded in on himself on the floor. It wasn’t— you weren’t _supposed_ to let anyone touch your tail, but this man… Ryan was willing to make an exception. It was meant to be a sign of trust. Often times, the first person aside from family to touch a merperson’s tail was their mate.

“You can touch it,” Ryan said, stupidly. “But not the fin,” he added on quickly. “Don’t touch the fin.”

Shane’s hand hovered over the red scales, pressing tentatively, and Ryan’s scales flared bright like fire. Shane’s face opened up into childlike wonder as he laughed. “Beautiful.”

Ryan was so fucked…

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [The Capture of Amphitrite [Fanart]](https://archiveofourown.org/works/29993445) by [bigboybergara](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bigboybergara/pseuds/bigboybergara)




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